Running-gear



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

J. R. MGGARDELL, 0. HFWEST & M. J. MoDONALD. RUNNING GEAR.

No. 485,875. Patented Nov. 8, 1892.

we norms Pawns no. mom-Inna, WA$HINBYOR D, c.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. R. MGCARDBLL, O. H. WEST 81; M. J. McDONALD.

RUNNINGGEAR.

No. 485,875. Patented Nov. 8, 1892.

Q? I i, M wgfg UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES R. MCOARDELL, CHARLES H. WEST, AND MARTIN J. MCDONALD, OF TRENTON,NEIV JERSEY.

RUNNING-GEAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 485,875, datedNovember8, 1892.

Application filed March 30, 1892. Serial No. 427.309. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMES R. MGCARDELL, CHARLES H. WEST, and MARTIN JMcDoN- ALD, citizens of the United States, residing at Trenton,in thecounty of Mercer and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Running-Gears of Wheeled Vehicles; and we dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact deroscription of our said invention, such as will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to that part of the running-gear ot' wheeledvehicles in which provision is made for the turning of the front axleand wheels, by which the course of the vehicle is reversed or changed,and the support of the hounds, foot-board,and shafts; and it consists inthe peculiar construction and combination of parts hereinafter describedand claimed.

We shall now proceed to describe our said invention with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1 shows a perspective viewof the forward part of the running-gear of a vehicle containing ourinvention; Fig. 2, a plan view of the same, and Fig. 3 a side Viewthereof.

In the drawings, A is the front axle, B the head-block; O, the reach orperch connecting the front and back axles of the vehicle; D, afifth-wheel; E, the kingbolt brace of the fifth-Wheel; F F, the hounds;G, the footboard; II, the guard brace; I, the lower hound-iron; K, thefoot-board stay or stepbraces, and L the king-bolt.

In applying our invention in the most advantageous manner to therunning-gear of a vehicle we use a fifth-wheel D, composed of 0 twoentire circles of iron or steel faced to slide upon each other in theusual way and held together by two metal clips. (Shown at a, in Figs. 1and 3 and at Z) in Figs. 2 and 3.) This fifth-wheel is preferably solocated that '15 its major portion will be to the rear of the frontaxle. The lower section of the fifthwheel is provided with fourcountersunk apertures to receive bolts, by which it is attached firmlyto the front axle and the hounds, and

the two holes, through which it is attached to the frent axle A, beinglocated at the points indicated by a" a: in Fig. 2, and the two holes,through which it is attached to the hounds F F, being located at thepoints indicated at 'y y in Fig. 2. The upper circle of the fifth-wheelis also provided with three countersunk apertures, one of which is atthe point indicated by z in the drawings, where the upper circle isattached firmly to the perch O by a bolt passing through-it, the othertwo holes being located under the headblock B and near the ends thereof,at which points the upper circle of the fifth-wheel is rigidly attachedto the head-block by bolts shown at r r in Fig. 1. The lower section ofthe fifth-wheel is provided with the cross-bar orking-bolt brace E,inadeintegral with it, and the king-bolt L passes through the perch G and anannular opening in the middle of the brace E, thus permitting the lowercircle or section of the fifth-wheel to turn on the kingbolt as acenter. The hounds F F are made of iron or steel or of wood strengthenedwith metal strips or hound-irons, as shown in Fig.

3, and curve upwardly forward of the axle A, as shown in Fig. 3. Thehounds are mortised through the axle A, as shown in Figs.

1 and 3, and are bolted to the lower section of the fifth-wheel at thepoints shown at y y in Fig. 2 and at p in Figs. 1 and 3, and the boltsattaching the lower section of the fifth wheel at x m in Fig. 2 passthrough the hounds, thus making a rigid frame of the front axle, thehounds, and the lower section of the fifth-wheel. The connection of the8 upper section of the fifth-wheel with the perch O and the head-block Bis preferably strengthened by the addition of the iron guard-brace H,which, as indicated in Fig. 3, passes from the upper side of the perch Cat a point near the king-bolt L and over the head-block B and the springmounted thereon to the forward clip of the fifth-whee], which clip ismade integral with the guardbrace. The foot-board G is firmly secured 5to the hounds by iron strips, and it is also attached to the axle A bythe foot-board stays K K, to which are attached the steps 8 s and theshafts. By thus locating the fifth-wheel upon the axle A and rigidlycon- 10:: meeting its lower section with the hounds and curvingupwardlythefrontendsofthehounds,

so as to elevate the foot-board and the shafts several advantagesresult. The steps from the ground to the wagon are made more nearlyequal to each other than heretofore, and the weight of a personascending to or descending from the vehicle is thrown entirely upon therunning-gear, and not partly upon the horse, as heretofore, while thehorse can be harnessed more closely to the vehicle than it can be withthe ordinary straight hounds heretofore used. The fifth-wheel beingplaced only partially behind the axle A is relieved of much strain,which would fall upon it were it attached to the axle only at itsperiphery, while the king-bolt L being lo cated at an appreciabledistance to the rear of the front axle the vehicle can be made to turnin a small space, owing to the swinging of the wagon-body to the outsidewhen the wagon is turned.

We are aware that our improved construction above described may bemodified in various details without departing from the spirit of ourinvention-as, for instance, the advantage of the hounds with theupturned forward ends can be retained if the fifth-wheel be dispensedwith and the rear ends of the hounds be joined by a sway-bar runningbeneath the perch; but such a combination would lack the advantagederived from locating the king-bolt so as to swivel in the guardbrace ofthe fifth-wheel instead of in the front axle, and would thus increasethe radius of the ,curve in which the vehicle could turn. So, too, thefifth-wheel might be used in combination with straight hounds; but theadvantage of close hitching would be lost. We do not therefore wish tobe confined to the specific construction shown and described; but

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a running-gear for wheeled vehicles, the combination of thefoot-board and the hounds, the latter having their front ends elevatedabove the axle and their rear ends extended behind the axle and rigidlyconnected, substantially as described.

2. In a running-gear for wheeled vehicles, the combination of thefoot-board, the fifthwheel, and the hounds, the latter having theirfront ends elevated above the axles and their rear ends extended behindthe axle and rigidly connected to the fifth-wheel, substantially asdescribed.

3. In the running-gearof a wheeled vehicle, the combination of theshafts, the axle, the hounds, and the fifth-wheel, the front ends of thehounds being elevated above the axle and the fifth-Wheel being locatedso that its center is in rear of the axle, substantially as described. 7

4. The combination, in a running-gear for wheeled vehicles, of theshafts, the axle, the

bounds, the foot-board, the fifth-wheel, the

king-bolt, and the perch, the front ends of the. hounds being raisedabove the axle and the rear ends being extended behind the axle andconnected rigidly, substantially as described.

JAMES R. MCOARDELL. CHARLES H. WEST. MARTIN J. MCDONALD.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL D. OLIPHANT, J r., F. O. LowTHoRP.

